Always There to Catch Me
by Irhaboggles
Summary: After the final battle is over, Maleficent finds herself unable to move past something that happened (or rather, almost happened) during the fight and it takes some reassurance and a trip down memory lane led by Aurora to assuage her guilt and fear. Maleficent is feeling insecure, good thing her little Beastie always knows how to cheer her up.


"Mother?" Aurora was surprised to find the dark fairy standing at her balcony. It was the middle of the night and Maleficent had given no warning that she was going to pay a visit, especially at such a late hour.

"Beastie!" Maleficent sounded embarrassed at being caught, but she turned around with the same old empty expression as always.

"Is something the matter?" Aurora asked, taking another step towards the Dark Fairy.

"No, no, nothing's the matter," Maleficent replied airily. "I was just out doing night rounds and thought I might stop here for a spell. I'm sorry to have woken you. Have you had any good dreams since the last time we talked?"

"Mother," Aurora crossed her arms and raised a chiding eyebrow. She knew as well as anyone that Maleficent was just trying to change the subject. Something was obviously wrong but, classic Maleficent, she was trying to deny, deflect and distract.

"It's nothing, Beastie," came the sharp remark and Maleficent turned away from Aurora once again, going back to gazing at the moon. Aurora's chiding expression changed to one of resigned acceptance. While she still wished that Maleficent would be a bit more open about her feelings, the younger queen still wanted the respect the older one's privacy. If she did not wish to disclose, then that she didn't have to disclose.

But even if she didn't want talk, Aurora could still just spend time with her in peace and quiet. So she stepped out onto the balcony after Maleficent and stood beside her, leaning comfortably up against her arm.

"Mmmm, what a lovely night," she mused, and it was. The air was warm and dry and the sky was clear and bright with the moon and stars…

For a moment, the two stood side by side in silence, just staring up at the moon together. Then Aurora felt one of Maleficent's wings slowing wrapping itself around her tiny body. Aurora couldn't stop a smile at that. There was just something so unspeakably pleasant and protective about being in Maleficent's wings that she adored. It was her favorite place in the entire world. It just felt so warm, safe and cozy, and she fit so well into Maleficent's wings like it had been meant to be even before she had been born.

"Mmmm," she sighed again as she leaned deeper into Maleficent's wing. At the same time, Maleficent slowly began to draw backward, carefully guiding Aurora away from the balcony and back to her bed chambers.

Aurora caught onto what Maleficent was doing after Maleficent pulled Aurora backward just a bit too much for a bit too long.

"I see what you're trying to do," she teased as she wiggled her way out from Maleficent's wings.

"I don't know what you're talking about," came the airy reply.

"You're trying to get me to go to bed!" Aurora replied. "Well, I won't have it! I'm not tired!" and then, in a very teasing manner, she strutted boldly back to the balcony. In doing so, she missed the look of genuine fear that flashed across Maleficent's face, but it was gone faster than it had come.

"Fine. If you won't go to bed, then you may as well entertain me. Come back inside and let us chat," Maleficent decided calmly.

"Inside? Why? It's just so lovely out here," Aurora replied innocently. She was facing Maleficent again, back pressed to the edge of the balcony. Maleficent felt her eye twitch as she took a cautious but commanding step towards Aurora.

"We can talk inside," she insisted cryptically.

"Well now you're just being stubborn and silly," Aurora continued to tease, leaning against the balcony railing.

"Aurora," there was a warning note in Maleficent's voice now but because Auroura genuinely did not understand what could possibly be upsetting Maleficent, she kept right along with the jokes.

"No, I know you may be my mother, but let _me _call the shots for once, please? I say we talk out here! It's so nice out!" she pleaded playfully. Maleficent said nothing as she continued to walk towards Aurora. Aurora took the silence as a reply and continued to banter with Maleficent about why they should have their conversation outside. Then once Maleficent came too close, Aurora began to lean backward even farther in a fake attempt to get away from the Dark Fairy. That was what finally did it.

Even though Aurora was in no danger of falling because the balcony railing was too tall for her to easily jump over it, just seeing her leaning back over the railing was enough to make Maleficent snap. She made a beckoning gesture with her hand, but it was not for Aurora. It was for her magic. Aurora was suddenly propelled forward right into Maleficent's arms.

"Ooof! Hey! No fair! That's cheating!" Aurora laughed, still painfully unaware to Maleficent's concern. At least until Maleficent used her magic for a second time to shut and lock the balcony doors. When Aurora heard the doors click into the locked position, she finally began to sense that Maleficent was more distressed than it seemed.

"Mother?" this time, all the humor was gone from Aurora's voice. All that was left was softness mixed with seriousness.

"Let us just talk in here, Beastie, ok?" Maleficent asked tiredly, taking a seat on the bed and gesturing for Aurora to do likewise.

"Ok…" Aurora began, dutifully taking a seat beside Maleficent as Maleficent wrapped a wing around Aurora's body once again, but just as a pleased smile began to stretch across Maleficent's face, Aurora continued to speak.

"But only if you tell me why you don't want to talk outside," she said, and Maleficent's smile faded in an instant. Aurora wasn't teasing anymore though, she genuinely wanted to know why Maleficent suddenly seemed so against an outdoor conversation.

As a fairy of the Moors, Maleficent _loved _the outdoors and she never missed a chance to be in nature. And she hated the castle, so the fact that she was choosing indoors over outdoors really made no sense tonight! Something was seriously wrong and Aurora wanted to know. She still wanted to honor her mother's private and personal boundaries, but if she was going to be so demanding, the least she could do would be to offer up some sort of explanation instead of being so cryptic and dismissive and expecting Aurora to take this out-of-character behavior with blind faith. Aurora loved Maleficent, she really did, but love did not equate to blind obedience.

For a second, it seemed like Maleficent wasn't going to answer and the two were going to go back to sitting together in silence. Aurora didn't mind that at all, it was just a bit frustrating given the current context. But just as she resigned herself to more silent sitting, Maleficent finally explained to Aurora why she did not want to be outside. Or rather, why she didn't want _Aurora _to be outside. On the balcony in particular. It coincided with why Maleficent had been on the balcony at all in the first place…

"Ever since Queen Ingrith tried to throw you off that tower to save her own skin, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind," the Dark Fairy finally confessed with tired and humiliated sigh. "The sight of you falling and the sound of your screaming… I just couldn't…" Maleficent trailed off brokenly. "That one second, if it was even that long, has been burned into my brain ever since. Nothing I do can get rid of it. All I can remember is the panic. Throwing myself off that tower and after you, praying to whatever god may exist that I catch you before you hit the ground. I can't get it out of my head. You were so close. So close. So close to me and to the ground. It could've only been luck that put you into my hand instead of death's. Even a fraction of a second later would've been too slow…"

And there it was. The truth behind Maleficent's paranoia. Even though she had, obviously, saved Aurora from her fatal plunge, the actual incident was still messing with Maleficent's head.

"Oh…" Aurora touched her arm sympathetically, but Maleficent drew away in anger. Aurora understood this as well. Maleficent had always been too stubborn and proud for her own good.

"It's nothing. It's nothing but stupidity and foolishness. I know I should have no reason to worry!" Maleficent insisted.

"And yet you do anyway," Aurora finished for the Dark Fairy and even though that had been exactly what Maleficent had been thinking, she hadn't planned on saying it. Hearing Aurora say it, then, left her at a loss for words.

"It's ok, you know?" Aurora continued to try and reassure her mother. "It's ok that you're still worried. I know it's impractical, but there's nothing shameful about it. It was serious event. I sometimes still have nightmares about falling too…" and then it was Aurora's turn to spill. Although her paranoia was nowhere near as bad as Maleficent's, she certainly wasn't 100% over being thrown off a tower either. And not only that, but in the few minutes where Maleficent had been dead during their battle with Queen Ingrith, Aurora was sometimes forced to revisit that time in her dreams and see it as an eternity instead of the few minutes that it actually was.

"That's been pretty rough," Aurora admitted, some of her own worries showing for the first time too. Maleficent wasn't the only one who had a problem with hiding her pain. "All of my worst dreams are the ones where your phoenix side was _not _able to resurrect you…"

"Oh, Beastie…" now it was Maleficent's turn to reach out. "I am so sorry you still have nightmares about this. And the fall."

"Well, they aren't that bad," Aurora tried to sound cheerful. "I mean, I really mean it! Sure, they're not fun, but the thing is, with the falling dream at least, every time I have it, your shadow is always with me. You're always there to catch me, to save me, just like always…"

And then the night took a happier turn as Aurora elaborated.

"I know this sounds really messed up and I'm sorry, but every time I have a bad dream about something happening to you, all I have to do is jump and you always catch me, without fail, every single time. Somehow, you find a way back to me. All I have to do is fall, then you save me. Even if you're gone for the entire dream, all I have to do is jump and you will be there. You're always there to catch me. You are my wings."

"How can you be so confident?" Maleficent scoffed, but there was a tiny sob in her scoff. She did not share Aurora's faith in her ability to catch Aurora if she ever fell. Like she had said, the incident on the tower had been way, way, way, way, way too close for comfort.

"Because of all the other times you saved me from falling. You were always there to catch me in the past, so why would that change now?" Aurora replied, then she began to recount all the times in her youth when she had done something stupid and nearly fallen, only for Maleficent to catch her.

"There was that time when I was six and almost fell off the counter trying to get something from a high shelf and you quickly magicked a cushion underneath me so that I didn't hit the floor. When I was eight I almost fell off the roof because I had gotten a toy stuck up there and forgot how to get back down. When I slipped, you turned it into a smooth slide down back to the ground. When I was 10, there was the time I climbed a tree too high and the branch broke so you just made another grow out right underneath me. There was the time when I was 12 and I almost fell off your wall of thorns only for you to save me again. And when I was 13 you saved me when the ladder I was working on fell over. You slowed my fall back then. And when I was 15, you saved me from falling into the river when Diaval threw that mud ball at me…"

"You have quite the impressive memory there, Beastie," Maleficent remarked as Aurora managed to recount every single time Maleficent had ever been there to stop one of Aurora's falls and catch her, even if it was barely in the nick of time.

"And in every memory, you did save me. Every single time. You never let me fall. You were always there to catch me. That was why I wasn't afraid when Ingrith threw me off the tower."

"You weren't afraid?" despite herself, Maleficent suddenly got a very disbelieving look on her face and Aurora was quick to amend her wording.

"I mean, I _was_, but the second you jumped after me, I suddenly felt so much better and even though I panicked the whole way down, a tiny part of me always knew that you would catch me because you'd never let me down before. Even if I couldn't explain how I knew that, and even though I was definitely scared out of my wits, that tiny part in me always knew you'd catch me and was not at all surprised when you did."

"Well, I'm glad you have so much faith in me," Maleficent sneered, clearly not feeling quite as generous with herself as Aurora.

"Of course, because you catch me every single time and I know you always will," Aurora promised sincerely, touching Maleficent's arm gently. "Besides, don't you remember? That's even how we met! That was the very first time you ever did anything kind for me. You saved me from falling off a cliff while chasing after butterflies. Even from the very beginning, the very first thing you did to protect me was to keep me from falling. You were my wings long before you had them and I know you'll continue to be my wings long into the future."

"Well," Maleficent couldn't help but ruin the tender moment with one last dry joke. "I failed to keep you from falling for Prince Phillip…"

"Well hey, everyone makes at least one mistake," Aurora replied, making a joke of her own. "Besides, perhaps your powers only work on a literal and physical level," she added with a teasing wink.

"Want to test that theory?" Maleficent challenged with a wicked grin.

"Too late," Aurora shook her head happily. "You said it yourself. I've already fallen for Phillip."

"Well I suppose I'll have to do better next time," Maleficent pretended to huff impatiently.

"Don't worry, you've done a fine job already," Aurora replied, gently bringing their talk back to a more serious note. It worked and Maleficent's dry smirk turned in a smile of real warmth and love. Without even realizing it, Beastie had done it again and taken away all of Maleficent's worries.

At last, then, Maleficent felt confident enough to go home. At least for that night, she knew she would not be troubled by nightmares where Aurora hit the ground instead of her talons. She bade her daughter goodnight before flying away. As she left, though, she paused for a moment just long enough to turn around and look back at the castle she was leaving behind.

"I promise you," she whispered, "I will be your wings forever and always and I'll never let you fall. I will always be there to catch you…"

**AN: Just inspired off the fact that the first and last time we see Maleficent save Aurora's life, she's saving Aurora from a fall. Don't you guys love parallels and bookend endings? LOL.**


End file.
